AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Heartbeat to the beat of the drums4/1/2023 ![]() The rejection in "Go Your Own Way" has a more conventional reason: "You don't care about me enough. In "Different Drum", the girl mainly needs to maintain her freedom and independence, which would be lost if she stayed with a boyfriend who adores her too much. Just as with " Go Your Own Way" (1977), there is a well-known pop song called " Different Drum" (1967)-and the words are, again, those of a person rejecting a boyfriend/girlfriend because they think their lives need to follow different paths. It suggests that they probably will not "succeed" by conventional criteria of wealth and public respect (though in rare cases they might become extremely wealthy). So, saying that someone marches to the beat of a different drum suggests that they are weird, maybe somewhat goofy, certainly idiosyncratic. These people are "marching to the beat of a different drum" than the "drum" that guides ordinary people. ![]() Some people feel called to unusual pursuits that most people don't respect and that don't pay much money, like joining the circus or the life of a hobo. But some people don't care very much about conventional success. The "formation" that Thoreau is referring to is the common, conventional practice of seeking money, physical comforts, and the respect of most people-which is how most people live. Now imagine that one man is out of step with the rest of the formation-he isn't "keeping pace". The phrase refers to people marching in formation, their steps synchronized by a drummer whom they all hear. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple tree or an oak. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Thoreauįirst, here is the passage from Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, which is usually considered the origin of the expression: ![]() To understand them, you must follow some of the cultural landmarks that echo in people's minds when they hear each phrase. No simple, abstract description can fully convey the connotations of either phrase. The connotations of each phrase are different, though. As with " go your own way," march to the beat of your own drum has positive and negative connotations simultaneously.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |